DistantNews
Support us
🇸🇬 Singapore /Crime & Justice

Sri Lanka’s Former Finance Minister Arrested Over Alleged Corruption

From The Straits Times · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire Official statement Under investigation
  • Former Sri Lankan finance minister Ravi Karunanayake was arrested over allegations that state funds paid the salaries of three people who worked privately for him.
  • The arrest followed an interrogation by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption.
  • It comes during a broader anti-corruption crackdown under President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, with other former officials and members of the Rajapaksa family also facing investigations or prosecutions.

Sri Lanka’s former finance minister Ravi Karunanayake was arrested on Aug. 31 after the country’s anti-corruption commission accused him of using public money to pay private employees.

The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption took Karunanayake into custody after a lengthy interrogation. A commission official said three people employed by the National Lotteries Board received salaries while performing private work for the former minister.

Karunanayake served in the administration of former President Ranil Wickremesinghe. His arrest comes as President Anura Kumara Dissanayake pursues a broad crackdown on corruption after taking office in 2024.

Another former minister, Keheliya Rambukwella, was arrested earlier in August. Authorities allege that he helped with the theft of a centuries-old sacred rock from the palace of the island’s last Sinhala king. Rambukwella was health minister when Sri Lanka faced a severe medicine shortage after defaulting on $46 billion in foreign debt in April 2022.

Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s immediate family members also face investigations or prosecutions involving money laundering, bribery and murder. The Rajapaksas have denied all the allegations.

The former minister was behind the payment of salaries to three people from the National Lotteries Board, but they did private work for him.

— Unnamed CIABOC officialThe anti-corruption commission official described the allegation against Karunanayake.
About this summary

Originally published by The Straits Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

More Stories

From Our Blog